Spring counterbalanced louver mechanism



Jan. 6, 1953 E; A. MADE-R 2,624,265

SPRING COUNTERBALANCED LOUVER MECHANISM Fi l'Qd NOV- 17, 1949 ZmnentorEmil APIaJM s (Ittorneg Patented Jan. 6, 1 953 Miran PATENT QFFI'CE,

SPRINGvCOUNTERBALANEED LOUVEB: MECHANISM f EmilIiA. Made'r, Detroit,Mich., assignor .ofl'one: ha-Ifgitor John. Spargo; Detroit; .Mich;

Applicationil lovemher. 17, 19.49.; SerialNo;.127;974-.-

suchelouvers and assure. a-.=g-radualv and: noiseless-closingthereoft Itiis: common. practicerto gravitationally' establisnand, maintain. the.closed: position of pivotal louvers-andltoemploy air. ressure. orsuctionz.- induced. by; an associated fan to swing and... hold 1 thelouvers open.-. Various. counterb'a'l'ancin'g'. provisions; have.beenvmacle...for reducing: therfop'eningg effort. and cushioning.closing travel of-s'thelouvers;

An object of the invention is to provide. a spring counterbalancing.mechanism for. louvers, afiording. in azsimple manner a. more rapid and'ac-, curate; regulation of the counterba1ancingefiort than has beenheretofore' available. Y

Another-object is to provide a. unit. comprising at. negulable.counterbalancing-f spring: and.. a. mounting";- for: such 7. spring-,-whichv .unit, may be quicklyand easily' appliedto: louver mechanisms of;various:- types and. sizes, reducing manufacturi'ngdiversitysAnother-object -:is-;t :adapt the. aforementioned .to. be concealed or;substantially concealed by; the. louvers to. which. the unit is.applied.

Another. object is: to. transmit the counterbalancing. effort. of acoiledspring. to a,.pivotal arm .whereon,..such; springisrlongitudinally ext'endedl'iand to.- regulate leverage. exertedv bysuch springomthearm... I

Anotherlobjectzis, to provide.aleverageeregulating' anchorage elementfor one end of'said coiled springt,and .,.toaafiord regulation of thetension or: thespring'in-anchoring its other end.

These, andWariouSiotheraobjects are attained by. the constructionhereinafter described and illustratedtin the a-ccompanying; drawing;where- Fig. 1 issaztop; plan. view.wofia...set3 of louvers equipped withmy novel... counterbalancingaunit, illustrating-a closed positi'onof.such set.

Fig.- '2 'is. a vertical sectional. view ofthe same taken onthe-line2-'2of Fig.1...

Fig. 3"is a similar sectional view showing the louvers in fully openedposition.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the counterbalancingunit taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of an attaching element for said unit.

In these views, the reference character I designates a rectangularframe, of angle bar construction, set into and fitting an opening 2a ina ceiling 2 -and-forming; a passage forthe-upfiow of airthrough suchopening. To control such flow, a set a of similar horizontally elongatedlouvers '3 are pivoted as indicated at G said .frame; larping, eachother in their horizontal closed pos-itions, as appearsdn Figs. 1 and 2.Tothe free margin of each louver is rigidly secured an up standingbracket 5,: and the louvers are interconnectedyto swing inunisonbyatierod 6,.disposed; centrally above thelouversand transverse to theiraxes.

Describing, nowv the counterbalancing unit whereinmy inventionparticularlylies. a post. I verticallyupstanding.upon an-end ofthe-frame I isclampedtosuch .endby a bolt and nuts. Any

tendency of. such. post. to rock on said. boltis preventedhya...metal..plate 9 (see-Fig, 5.) held tightly against the frame by. saidbolt and nut, the upper portion oi'said. plate. ,being bent down to.extend across andwithin the. frame and havinga notch. I E) wherein. thepostis snugly, fitted. Pivoted on .the post. at .l l is. one endoi an.elongated louverg-lifting arm l2 which, projectscentrally abovethelouvers transversely. to their axes, and'hence overlies the tierod6.. Said. arm preferably forms'a channel, opening downwardly or toward.the louvers and. may be a sheet-metal stamping: To' formits pivotalend'portion the arm .has 'extensions I 3 from the sides of its channelwhich extensionsrstraddl'e the post'l and are preferably divergeddownwardly" at an obtuse angle to'the main length of thearm. Verticallyslidabl'e'on. the post; above the pivot Ii, is' an anchorage :element 54' whichrmay beycl'amped. jat selective elevations: by a boltv and .nut'I5; An elongated coiled-spring l5; anchored atone end 'to -the elementl4, extends through thechannel of the arm andis connected'throughiafusible link I! to anpeye-bolt IB'adjustably mounted on the. free endofthe arm. It ispreferred to extend said eye-bolt transversely andslidably through a pin l 97 disposed between. andswi'veled in the sidewalls. ofjthe, arm, a .w-ingnutzfl. being threaded on the bolt forwardlyof thepin-to regulate. the slidingrelation of the bolt. to the pin, anda lock nut 2| being tightenedfor-ward'ly against the pin to resistloosening of the Wingnut. By thus swivelly anchoring the forward end ofthe spring to the arm, various angular relations of the spring to thearm are accommodated with a minimum of friction, noise, and strain.Between the wingnut and swiveled pin is clamped a plate 22 carried bythe bolt l8, and swivelly mounting the upper end of a lifting link 23formed preferably of wire with its ends transversely bent to respec- 3tively engage the plate 22 and mid-portion of the tie rod 6.

When the described counterbalancing unit is properly adjusted, thelouvers close under a gravitational force only sufiicient to overcomeany tendency toward rattling or flapping of the louvers in response todrafts or thermal air currents. Such air currents are more prevalent insome installations than in others and it is hence desirable that any setof ceiling louvers be individually adjusted at time of installation.Such an adjustment may be effected with great accuracy by tightening orloosening the wingnut 20 and thus regulating the spring tension. The

coarser adjustment afforded by shifting the anchorage element [4 on thepost 1 and thus regulating leverage exerted by the spring, may beaccomplished with sufrlcient accuracy at the factory. This adjustmentprimarily serves to adapt the counterbalancing unit to a particular sizeor type of louvers, and it is to be understood that the described unitmay be suited to numerous different sizes and weights of louvers byproperly positioning the element M. By adapting the arm I2 to form ahousing for the coiled spring, the latter is less likely to accumulatedust or grease or to be distorted through rough treatment. It will benoted that the end portions l3 of the lifter arm avoid interference bysaid arm with the range of adjustment of the element It.

What I claim is:

l. A louver mechanism comprising a frame having an opening affording airflow in a predetermined direction, a set of louvers controlling suchopening, means individually pivoting said louvers to swing aboutparallel axes from their closure position in the approximate directionof air flow, means interconnecting the louvers for pivotal actuation inunison, an arm spaced from the louvers in the direction of air flow andextending approximately transversely to such direction, whereby said armhas an inner end relatively adjacent to the axis of said opening'and anouter end relatively remote from such axis, a support for said arm,means pivoting the arm substantially at its outer end on the support andaffording swinging of the arm to and from the louvers, a swingingactuating connection from the inner end portion of the arm to saidinterconnecting means, a coiled spring connected at one of its ends tothe inner end portion of the arm for pivotally'urging the arm in thedirection of air flow, and an anchorage element for the other end of thespring carried by'said support and adjustable on the support to and fromthe pivotal end of the arm to regulate the leverage spring-applied tothe arm.

2.. A louver mechanism as set forth in claim 1, said arm forming achannel opening toward the louvers, and said spring being at leastpartially housed in such channel.

3. A louver mechanism as set forth in claim 1, said support being a postcarried by said frame, and said anchorage element being slidable on thepost to afiect its adjustment to and from the pivotal end of the arm.

4. In a louver mechanism as set forth in claim 1, means for anchoringsaid spring to the arm, including means for regulating the tension ofthe spring.

5. A louver counterbalancing unit comprising an elongated post forsupporting such unit, a frame having an opening afiording air flow in apredetermined direction, aid post projecting from such frame in theapproximate direction of air flow, means for clamping an end portion ofthe post to said frame, an anchorage element adjustable on andlengthwise of the post, an arm having a free end and pivotedsubstantially at its other end on the post between said clamping meansand anchorage element, a coiled spring tensioned between said elementand the free end of the arm, a set of louvers mounted in said frame toregulate said air flow, and means for operatively connecting .said freeend of the arm to said louvers. 7

6. In a louver-couriterbalanclrig unit as set forth in claim 5, a secondanchorage element mounted on the free end of said arm and rockable aboutan axis transverse to the arm, an adjusting screw extending freelythrough the second anchor-age element transversely to said axis andconnecting said spring to the free end of the arm, and a nut rotativelythreaded on said screw and imposing thrust on the second anchorageelement to longitudinally shift the screw and regulate tension of thespring. 7

7. A louver mechanism as set forth in claim 1, said arm extendingsubstantially transversely to the louver axes.

8. A louver counterbalancing unit comprising a frame having an openingaffording air flow in a predetermined direction, a support for such unitprojecting from the frame inthe approximate direction of said air flow,means for clamping such support to said-frame, an arm having a free end,means pivoting said arm substantiallya-t its other end on the support, aset offlouvers mounted in said frame to regulate said air flowfaconnection from said free end to said-louvers for opening the louvers,an elongated spring reacting between said support and arm forcounterbalancing the louvers, an anchor-age member for one end of thespring adjustable on the support to and from the pivoting means for thesupport for regulating the leverage exerted by the spring on the arm,and means connectin the other end of the spring to the free end portionof the arm, including means to regulate the sprin stress;

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REFERENCES o'rran The following references are of record; file of thispatent:

M-ader Mar. id, 1943

